Oil-cake-stripping machine.



A. W. FRENCH.

OIL CAKE STRIPPING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG.2,1906.

902, 869. Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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OIL CAKE STRIPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILBD AUG. 2, 1906.

902,869. Patefited Nov. 3, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ALFRED W. FRENCH, OF PIQUA, OHIO.

OIL-C AKE-STRIPPIN G MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 2, 1906.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Serial No. 328,875.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALFRED FRENCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oil-Cake-Stripping Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of oils the oil bearing meal or material, after being cooked or teini pered, is molded into flat cakes whichare wrapped in press cloths which hold them intact when subjected to pressure in the presses. The press cloth is ordinarily wrapped once around the cake lengthwise thereof with the two ends of the cloth overlapping centrallv on the top of the cake. After pressure, the cloths adhere very tena ciously to the cakes and must be forcibly stripped therefrom. In my application for patent, filed October 9, 1905, Serial No. 281,895, a machine is disclosed for stripping the cloths from the cakes, comprising a pair of oppositely rotating stripping rolls between which one end of the cloth, which has been loosened from the cake by hand, is placed. The rolls grip the cloth and feed it between them, thereby stripping it from the cake, which, by reason of the pull on the cloth, is moved lengthwise first in one direction over the rolls while the cloth is being stripped from the bottom of the cake, and then in the opposite direction under the rolls while the remaining end of the cloth is being stripped from the top of the cake, and is finally dro ped on a receiving table beneath the stripping rolls when the cloth is completely detached therefrom.

This invention relates to cake stripping machines of this character, one object of the invention being to improve such machines in the particulars hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

Other objects of the invention are to provide the machine with a cloth feeding device whereby injury to the hands of the operative is prevented in feeding the cloths between the strip ing rolls; to provide a moving carrier fbr the detached cloths which will positively convey the cloths from the stripping rolls and discharge them from the machine so as to prevent them from clogging the machine; and to provide the machine with a feed table upon which the cloth covered cakes are piled or stacked and which is automatically raised intermittently as the cakes are taken therefrom in such manner as to always maintain the top of the pile at substantially the same height regardless of the number of cakes on the table, thus reducing the labor incident to feeding the cakes to the stripping machine and making a nliore rapid operation of the machine possib e.

In the accompanying drawin s, consisting of two sheets: Figure 1 is a Front elevation, partly in section, of an oil cake stripping machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the upper portion of the machine, showing the commencement of the stripping operation. Fig. 4 is a similar view, showing the last portion of the stripping operation.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A represents the frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable construction, B B the stripping rolls which are arranged horizontally and are journaled at their ends in suitable bearings at the upper front and rear portions of the frame. The rolls are caused to bear yieldingly against each other so as to grip and feed the cloths between them, and for this purpose one of the rolls, B, is journaled in stationary bearings, while the other roll is journaled in suitable movable boxes C and is pressed toward the stationary roll by springs acting on said boxes. Any other suitable means for effecting a yielding contact or pressure of the rolls against each other may be employed. The journals at one end of the rolls are provided with intermeshin gear wheels d d, Fig. 2, and one of the r0 1 ournals has a drive pul ley (1 whereby the rolls are positively driven in opposite directions.

E represents the table below the stripping rolls to receive the stripped cakes, and F a feed board arranged above the receivin table at one side of the stripping rolls and terminating adjacent to the upper roll, and on which the cloth-covered cakes are separately laid to be stripped. The feed board shown consists of a series of parallel spaced bars or strips having depending supporting portions f spaced from one end of the receivmg table E and secured to a yoke or bracket f projecting from the end of the machine frame. At the opposite side of the stripping rolls is a return board G which is pivoted in any suitable manner on the machine and is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2, by a spring g or other means which permit the inner end of the board to tilt downwardly to gently deposit the cake upon the receiving table E. The machine as thus far described substantially similar to that disclosed in my said application. These parts may be of the construction shown and described or t of any other suitable construction. In the operation of this latter machine the cloth covered cake is placed upon the feed board and the end of the cloth adjacent to the stripping rolls is loosened from the cake by hand and passed around under the upper stripping roll and engaged between the two stripping rolls with the hand. This operation is more or less dangerous as the hand is liable to be caught between the rolls and crushed.

In the present machine the end of the cloth is inserted between the stripping rolls by a feed device, consisting, in the construction illustrated, of a rock shaft 11 journaled horizontally in suitable bearings 71 in the machine frame above the upper stripping roll and having projecting fingers h with ends curved so as to embrace the upper stripping roll when they are swung toward the same by oscillating the rock shaft. The rock shaft has at. its front end a handle or lever It for rocking it to insert the cloth between the stripping rolls, and is also provided with means for returning it to and holding it in its normal position, such, for example, as a spring I attached at one end to a suitable part of the machine frame and at the other end to the curved edge of a segment i secured to the rock shaft. After one end of the cloth is loosened from the cake by hand, the cake is moved forward on the feed board F toward the stripping rolls so that the loosened end of the cloth will hang down over the upper stripping roll, as shown in Fig. 1. The feed device is then rocked toward the stri ping rolls, thereby bending the end of tie cloth around the upper roll so that the end of the cloth will be gripped between the stripping rolls, as shown in Fig. '3, and fed forwardly thereby.

K represents a traveling conveyer arranged between the feed board and receiving table for holding the cloths off of the receiving table and stripped cakes thereon and carrying them from the stripping rolls as they are stripped from the cakes and discharging them from the machine beyond the receiving table. This carrier in the machine shown, see Figs. 1 3 and at, consists of an endless apron or belt passing around the lower stripping roll and around another roller is located at the forward end of the machine beneath the feed board. This roller k is preferably journaled at its ends in movable boxes Z, Figs. 1 and 2, provided with adjusting screws or other means whereby the boxes can be moved to properly tension the carrier belt or apron. As the cloths are stripped from the cakes by the stripping rolls they are fed onto and carried forwardly by the apron K and discharged over the front end of the traveling table E, being thus held off of the receiving table and cakes thereon and discharged in succession from the machine. As the cloth discharging apron passes around the lower stripping roll and is driven thereby at the same speed as the roll the cloths will lie flat thereon and will be carried along and pass over the discharge end of the apron in a flat condition. The cloths will not, therefore, wrinkle or ruinple up beneath the feed board and clog the machine as they might possibly do if they were fed from the stripping rolls onto a stationary receiving surface.

The stripping operation is similar to that of the machine shown and described in said application. A elothmovered cake is placed on the feed board, and the end of the cloth adjacent to the stripping rolls is loosened and thrown downwardly over the up )er stripping roll. The feed device H is t en rocked to engage the cloth between the strip-- ping rolls and then released and allowed to be returned to its normal position by its spring. The strippin rolls B B being positively driven, will feed the cloth between them onto the discharge apron K, thus stripping the cloth from the cake, and the apron will discharge the cloth from the machine. As the cloth is stripped from the underside of the cake the latter is drawn over the feed board and stripping rolls and its forward end will drop upon and be supported by the return board G. hen the cake passes over the stripping rolls its weight will cause the return board to tilt downwardly and the cake will assume substantially the position shown in Fig. 4, with its rear end below the stripping rolls. The continued operation of the rolls will strip the remaining end of the cloth from the upper side of the cake and move the cake in the opposite direction beneath the stripping rolls until the cloth is completely detached, when the cake will drop upon the receivin table.

A feed table is preerably employed at. the feed end of the machine upon which the cloth-covered cakes are piled or stacked and from which they are fed successively to the machine, and this table is automatically lifted or raised a distance substantially equal to the thickness of one cake each time a cake is taken therefrom, so that the top of the pile of the cakes will be always kept at substantially the same height, at or near the plane of the feed board, whereby the labor of lifting and feeding the cakes to the machine is materially lessened. This feed table M is preferably carried by the upper end of a plunger m which reci rocates in an upright cylinder m suitab y arranged below the table. The lower end of the cylinder is supplied with liquid under pressure by a pipe n which is controlled by a valve N of any suitable sort operated by a trigger-arm or device arranged to be moved to open the valve each time a cake is taken from the feed table. A piston valve is shown, see Fig. 1, having a reduced portion which connects the pipe a leading to the cylinder with a supply pipe 7t when the valve is in the position shown. hen the valve lifted slightly from this position it will cut ofl the cylinder from the supply pipe n and when moved still higher will connect the cylinder with a discharge pipe 11 The valve is connected by a rod 0 and arm 7) with a rock shaft 1' journaled in a suitable bearing 9' and having a trigger arm projecting therefrom over the pile of cakes on the feed table. \Vhcn the top cake is removed from the pile the trigger arm will drop to the next cake and through the described connections will lower the valve N to the position shown in Fig. 1. Liquid will then enter the cylinder, and the plunger m and feed table M will rise and lift the trigger arm until the valve again cuts off the cylinder from the supply pipe, when the table will come to rest. The table is thus lifted each time a cake is taken from the pile and the parts are so adjusted that each upward movement of the table will be about equal to the thickness of a cake. The top of the pile of akes is therefore kept at about the same level regardless of the number of cakes on the table. \Vhen all of the cakes have been removed from the feed table and it is desired to lower the latter for a new pile. the valve N is moved to connect the cylinder pipe n with the discharge pipe 11 and held open until the liquid discharges front the cylinder. and the plunger and feed table descend to the limit of their downward movement. The valve and actuating means described for intern'iittently raising the feed table are efficient and desirable, but devices of various other construetitms could be employet'l for elfecting a similar operation of the feed table.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a cake stripping machine, the combination of a pair of rotary stripping rolls which cooperate to grip the cloth, feed it between them and strip it from the cake, and a device movable toward said stripping rolls to engage the cloth and insert it in the bite of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

In a cake stripping machine. the combination of a pair of rotary stripping rolls occupying a relatively fixed location which LOtllM-l'tlft. to grip the cloth, feed it between them. strip it from the cake and discharge the cloth, and a device movable to engage the cloth and insert it in the bite of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

In a cake stripping machine, the combination of a pair of rotary stripping rolls which cooperate to grip the cloth, feed it. between them and strip it from the cake, and a device having fingers movable toward said strip 'iing rolls to engage the cloth and insert it in the bite of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

4. In a cake stripping machine, the combination of a pair of rotary stripping rolls which cooperate to grip the cloth. feed it between them and strip it from the cake. and a device having lii'igers mounted to oscillate toward said stripping rolls to engage the cloth and insert it in the bite of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

5. In a cake stripping machine, the combination of means for engaging the cloth, stri giping it from the cake and discharging the cloth free from the cake, and a device movable toward said stripping means for engaging the cloth therewith, substantially as set forth.

ti. in a cake stripping machine, the combination of means occupying a relatively fixed location for engaging the cloth, stripping it from the cake and discharging the cloth free of the cake, and a manually-operated device movable to engage the cloth and feed it to said stripping means, substantially as set forth.

T. In a cake stripping machine. the combination of means which strip the cloth off of the ca he. a receiver below said stripping means on which the stri :)pcd cake is deposited. and means to which the stripping means feed thecloth as it is stripped from the cake and which hold the cloth off of the stripped cake, substantially as set forth.

8. In a cake stripping machine, the combi nation of stripping rolls which feed the cloth between them and strip it from the cake, and a traveling carrier which passes around one of said rolls and discharges the cloth from the machine. substantially as set forth.

9. In a cake stripping machine, the combination of means which strip the cloth off of the cake, a receiver on which said stripping means deposit the stripped cakes, and a traveling cloth carrier above said receiver to which said stripping means deliver the cloth as it is stripped from the cake and which holds the cloth off of the stripped cakes and discharges it beyond said receiver, substantially as set forth.

.10. The combination of means for stripping the cloths from the cakes, a feed. table for the pile of cakes, fluid pressure means for raising said table, a controlling valve for said means, and an actuating device for said valve arranged to be engaged and moved by the top cake of the pile and by its position to control the position of said valve. whereby the table is raised each time a cake is removed therefrom a distance depending upon the thickness of the cake removed and the top of the pile kept at the same height, substantially as set forth.

11. The combination of means for stripping the cloths from the cakes, a feed table for the pile of cakes, fluid pressure means for valve when the top cake is removed from the table and to lift and (lose the valve upon an upward movement of the table, whereby the table is raised each time a cake is removed therefrnm a distance depending upon the thickness of the cake removed and the top of the pile of cakes is kept at the same height, substantially as set forth.

\Vitness my hand. this 29th day of July, 1906.

ALFRED W. FRIGPCU.

itnesses C. B. Jiuiison, P. G. YVEIDNEH. 

